Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Tax Money Going to Fund Not Radio, But NPR Executives

Defenders of NPR have noted the Washington main organization -- local stations are the jewels of the public radio crown -- receives only $2.4 million annually in federal grants. That's a small amount as these things go, so why doesn't NPR cover that sum with private donations and voluntarily end the taxpayer-funding contretemps?

Now it turns out the NPR president was paid $562,000 last year, and the year before that, NPR paid $2.4 million to its top two executives. So much of the federal tax money, derived by borrowing and handing the bill to our children, isn't funding newscasts or opera -- it's going into the pockets of NPR executives. Americans whose median income is about $50,000 are being taxed so that executives can live in luxury. This was offensive when AIG was the beneficiary, and it's offensive with NPR the beneficiary.

1 comment:

NPR is paying those guys way too much for sure. However, $2.4 million is an infinitesimal portion of the federal budget. If you and Greg Easterbrook want to cut federal spending, you can do a lot better than that. The Pentagon is spending $1.5 Billion per day, not counting the wars. How about ending the $1 Trillion in tax breaks and subsidies for the oil companies that are making record profits?